Plain Sight
by eliana-moran
Summary: Sometimes hiding in plain sight is the safest place to be. Sometimes that which is right in front of you is the hardest to recognize. Ginny and Draco attend a muggle high school for their own safety. Not much about either of them is as it seems.
1. Chapter 1

"No! No, no, no!" It was Ginny Weasley speaking, shaking her head, and waving her arms as though to ward off the unwanted. "I can't believe you would do this to me! First, you send me to a muggle school, where I have precious little chance of fitting in to _their_ social structure, and away from any chance of establishing a normal social life in the _wizarding_ world, and now you do _this?_" She had been sent to a muggle school since she was twelve. All of the adults in her life seemed to think that was the wisest thing for her safety after the diary incident. So…she went to school during the day and was tutored in magic at home two evenings a week and on weekends. Now, apparently, those same adults who thought they had a right to reorganize her life without her input had informed her that she would be joined by another in need of protection and they expected her to help _him_ make the adjustment.

She stormed out of the house. She knew didn't have a choice but do what they wanted, but that didn't mean she had to sit around and listen to their lectures. They hadn't even given her any warning. They had waited until the day before school began to tell her what was going on. That really didn't surprise her; they always avoided telling her anything until they absolutely had no choice whatsoever.

The next morning she sat on the top rail of an old fence where the long lane that eventually passed their house met something barely large enough to be called a road. She looked at her watch and let out a strangled scream. If he didn't show up soon they'd miss the bus.

Not a second later a loud crack sounded behind her. "You're late," she said without turning around. She got up and started down the road. "We'll be lucky to make the bus now."

"Wait," he whined as he followed her, "they said the bus came at 6:30."

"Yeah, but they also told you to be here at 6. We have to walk half a mile to get to the bus stop." She still hadn't looked at him.

"I thought this _was_ the bus stop." He was still whining.

"Right, they'd let you apparate in where anyone can see. Now stop shuffling your feet and keep up." She sped up their pace as she spoke.

She could almost hear him roll his eyes. "Look," he said, "I'm not exactly happy with this arrangement myself."

"Is that your attempt at a 'let's be friends' speech?" she asked in disbelief. It was almost amusing.

He growled. "The least you could do is be civil."

She stopped, spun, and stared at him. "This _is_ me being civil. You're so bloody arrogant. You think you can do whatever you want. You were told to be here at a certain time and you're twenty minutes late. Then you _whine_ like a little kid because your spoiled little feet have to _walk_ a bit. You at least had a choice whether or not to accept their protection and therefore their arrangements. I, on the other hand, have no choice. I was told _last night_ that I would be babysitting you and holding your hand around the muggle world." She brought her hands up like she wanted to strangle him and was fighting the impulse. "Do I have to remind you that _you_ are the one who made _my_ life miserable, _not_ the other way around? Maybe we should start with you giving me a _reason_ to be _civil_." They heard the sound of an approaching automobile down the road a bit.

He smirked. "We're going to miss the bus." She was cute when she got riled up. His only memories of her were of a little brat that followed her brother around. He decided he'd have fun teasing her.

She reached up and his eyes went wide as she grabbed the front of his shirt and just took off running toward the bus. It was pulling away as they reached the intersection with the main road and were barely able to call it back.

He smoothed the wrinkles out of his shirt as they climbed on board. She found a seat halfway back and grabbed his sleeve, dragging him toward it and down beside her. He shook his arm after she released him and turned toward the window. "Merlin, woman, warn me next time you plan on dragging me somewhere; give me a chance to catch my balance."

She rolled her eyes. "Bloody hell, if you're going to curse, do so in a manner that _normal_ people will understand."

"Normal?" he couldn't believe she was referring to muggles as _normal_.

She grabbed his collar and pulled him toward her. "Listen to me, you moron," her voice was as low as she could make it, "I was instructed to help you adjust. Your first lesson is language. _Don't_ use words like 'muggle' or 'squib.' People _won't_ understand you if you insult them with names like 'blood traitor' or 'mudblood.' If you're going to curse, 'bloody,' 'hell,' a combination of the two, 'damn,' 'shit,' 'ass,' etc. are all acceptable. Hell, you might even learn a few new ones. Ever heard 'fuck off?' I'm pretty sure that's one you'll hear a lot. Just _don't_ swear by long dead wizards no one here even believes existed, yeah?"

He reached up and pried her fingers off his shirt. "Yeah," he said sarcastically, "I can tell we're going to get along _great_."

When they got to the school, she led him to the office where he had to meet with his guidance counselor to finish his registration. He was a year older than Ginny, but they were putting him in her year so it would be easier for her to help him out. Both of them knew that meant keep an eye on him. He was given the same schedule she had and the morning progressed without too much trouble.

Their second hour of the day was study hall and as they made their way toward the classroom he shoved his hands into his pockets insolently. "This is ridiculous. We have every single class every single day? None of them last more than hour? How the hell does anything ever get done? And who the hell heard of giving _class_ time over to _homework_. Isn't it called _home_ work for a reason?"

She laughed mischievously. "I guarantee you that by the end of the fortnight you will behind on your work and lost in most of you classes, with or without a study hall."

"Oh?" he clearly thought she was being absurd. "You don't think I can handle the workload?"

"It isn't that," she said innocently as she opened the door for him, "I'm sure you could handle the work load. I just don't think you'll understand how to do it." They entered the room. Two of the walls were lined with computers while desks and tables took up the open space. "You see, most of our work here is done on computers."

He hesitated for a moment and had to hurry a few steps to catch up with her. "On what?" There was a slight note of panic in his voice. Whether he let people know it or not, he took pride in his school work, in maintaining good marks. He strove for excellence in everything he did for his own satisfaction and not for anyone else's, that's why he never saw the need to correct the mass belief in his apathy.

She looked back at him curiously. "Computers. Don't worry," she slung her bag down on one of the tables, "you can come over some time and I'll teach you how to use them. It really isn't that difficult." For some reason she couldn't bring herself to revel in his ignorance as she had intended.

He put his bag down next to hers. "Tonight?" He decided to forego a sarcastic and disbelieving response to her offer of help.

She shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Just then she was almost doubled over as someone slammed into her back and wrapped her in an overzealous hug. "Hello Katrine," Ginny managed in a hoarse whisper despite the pressure on her diaghram.

"Katrine, let her breathe," a young man said as he pulled the girl off. "Hey Gin. Who's the blond?" he asked.

"Oh, that. That's Draco Malfoy." Ginny answered as though she'd rather forget there was anyone else present.

Draco glared at Ginny.

"What?" she asked innocently, "no one told me to introduce you otherwise and you _did_ register under your own name so…"

He rolled his eyes. It had been her tone that had upset him, not the use of his name, but the reaction had been involuntary and he would rather die that admit her displeasure at his presence had irritated him.

"Anyway," she said with a sigh, "this is Katrine and her brother Khaile. You might as well know now that they believe in magic."

Draco looked at her in confusion.

Khaile raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Is really that dense or, well, I can't come up with an alternative."

Ginny plopped into one of the chairs around the table. "Oh, he's sharp, and as subtle as a snake when he wants to be. He just hasn't quite grasped the necessity for maintaining the facade of mental health."

"You know, guys," Katrine chimed in as she sat next to Ginny, "the poor bloke really does look lost, maybe we should explain?"

"Sure, whatever," Ginny looked over at Draco, "being thought weird is one thing, but drawing attention to yourself for being _too_ weird will land you in therapy, and the last thing you want is a bunch of morons trying to fix the way your brain works. 'Believing' in magic and claiming to be capable of producing it are two entirely different things. The first one marks you as an eccentric or romantic, the second marks you as maladjusted and possibly psychotic. Really, Malfoy, first the lesson on language, and now I have to explain _this_? I really _am_ going to have to hold your hand, aren't I?"

Khaile laughed, "Vocabulary? You had to correct his vocabulary? I would have thought that much would have been common sense." He leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs out under the table.

Before Draco could find a suitable remark he saw Ginny's shoulders tense and eyes freeze over, harder than his had ever been. Just before he turned to see where her gaze was directed he heard Khaile swear softly under his breath before laconically stretching his arm out around Ginny's shoulders and adopting a blank, detached look. He also saw Katrine lower her face to her hands in exasperation before turning around to face the new comer.

"Still with this wank?" Draco was duly impressed by the sickeningly silky arrogance that was so strong it almost over powered the words. "Let me know when you're done playing around and want to get serious."

"Seriously ill," Ginny mumbled under her breath.

"Look," Khaile began as though he really didn't care, "why don't you just recognize where you're not wanted and scamper off?"

Khaile got a rather nasty glare for his trouble. "Why don't you recognize when it's safer to keep your mouth shut?"

Draco shook his head and placed his fists on the table before him, slowly standing, leaning forward just enough to be menacing without being threatening. "He told you once, and I'll do the same. Fuck. Off."

The withering glare was turned on him and he actually sniffed with suppressed laughter. "Who the hell are _you_?"

Draco raised his eyebrows as though he was impressed by the gall behind the question. "Not that it's any of your damn business, but I'm her brother. Now, are you going to make me repeat myself?" He cocked his head to one side as though _daring_ the boy to push him and elicited a nervous shuffle from the unwanted.

"Her brother?" Draco smirked, he was getting his wish. "She's been here four years, where have you been?"

Draco looked down and back up, his smirk now a wicked grin, "I've been elsewhere, but we heard that she was having trouble with an asshole, I can only assume that's you, and decided that I'd give her a hand."

The other boy tried to sneer but only succeeding in looking slightly sick to his stomache before turning away.

Draco sat back down with an expression on his face that somehow combined satisfaction with disappointment.

"My brother?" Ginny turned to stare at him. He just shrugged and pulled out a book. She rolled her eyes and made her way over to one of the computers and Khaile followed her example while Katrine copied Draco.

A few minutes later Katrine rolled her eyes. There, superimposed on her book, was a note from Draco. "So, are they really together?"

She reached into her bag on the seat next to her and closed her hand around her wand.

Draco read her response over the words of his own book. "You shouldn't be doing magic in here, and I don't know."

She clenched her jaw when he replied. "How can you not know? He is your brother and she is your best friend, right? No one will notice the magic, you know, unless you react to it."

He smirked at her next words. "She can sense magic so cut it out. I can't know if they're together or not unless they do, now can I?"

"Have they kissed yet?" he asked, ignoring her comment about Ginny's sensitivity to magic.

Katrine failed to respond so he tried again. "So, you're just going to ignore me now?"

He watched her as she moved her wand and then withdrew her hand from her bag, pulling out an electronic device he didn't recognize. He looked down at his book to read her last statement. "When you're only point for prolonging the conversation anymore is to get her attention and annoy her, yes."

Meanwhile, Khaile's game was interrupted by an instant message. "We have got to teach him how to use computers and cell phones."

He chuckled softly. "So he can _text_ his questions to Kat?"

Her answer to his question was "rolls eyes Are you that dense or…you know, I can't come up with any alternative."

"lol," was his only response.

"So," she asked after a minute or two, "what _is_ the answer to his question?"

"You mean are we together or not?" he asked for clarification.

"No," he could read the sarcasm in her words, "what time's lunch?"

He typed, "shrugs I don't know. We've never really had a reason to figure that out before. Is there an immediate reason to do so now?"

"You mean other than a desire for something in my life to make sense for once? I just want to be able to answer questions when people ask." It wasn't like anyone _did_ ask whether or not they were really together, at least until Draco came along. Everyone just accepted that they were, except possibly Kat, but she knew her brother's aversion to defining relationships and her best friends reluctance let people get too close.

"Who's been asking? Are you worried Malfoy's going to develop a fancy for you unless he's discouraged?" He liked things the way they were. There wasn't any pressure. When you started defining things with people they either moved faster than you wanted them to or they stopped moving altogether. He liked her; he'd even admit, to himself if to no one else, that he loved her. He just didn't want decide arbitrarily in what _way_ he cared for her. He preferred to let things happen as they would. He figured that if they ever found themselves in a position where they were drawn together to kiss…well, that would answer the question, but they hadn't yet, neither had they been in a position where they _should_ if they felt that way about each other and _not_.

"Malfoy? Fancy me? Have you seen any flying pigs lately?" That possibility had never crossed her mind and now that it had been suggested she honestly found it ridiculous. Malfoy was, after all, an elitist and she, after all, was common. At least that what _she_ thought of herself. "Why? Does the possibility make you jealous?" She was teasing Khaile, but only in the direct manner of her question. She really wanted to know because that would give insight into how he felt. She found him rather attractive and knew that if she let herself she _could_ fall in love with him. They got along great, he knew her better than anyone, even Kat, and he was always there for her. There were just two obstacles in her way. The first was that, other than sexual attraction, she felt the same way about her brothers Bill and the twins which meant that should she choose _not_ to let herself fall in love with him she could easily find in him another brother. The second was that her self-defenses would not allow her to get any closer to him until she knew it would be safe, until she knew how she would be received.

He took quite a while in answering her question. He really didn't know the answer and he didn't want to decide on the spot. What he _did_ know was that the idea of her with anyone else raised his hackles and put him in the ridiculous mood to threaten the bloke off. The reason he couldn't automatically recognize that as jealously was because he felt the same way when someone looked at his sister with interest. He knew that he wanted to keep Ginny from being hurt or used by anyone, he just wasn't sure whether he would be okay with her being happy with someone other than himself the way he would be if Kat found a guy worthy of her.

Finally he answered her. "I just don't trust him." It was the only answer he could trust at the moment.

Her reply was immediate. "sigh Neither do I."

He smiled to himself until he got a second message from her almost on the heels of the first. "…entirely." She didn't know why she had added the qualifier. She just knew that something about his eyes was different than it had been the last time they had met…and they way he had stood up for her…

Khaile, on the other hand, though unable to sort out his own feelings or trust his interpretations of anyone else's feelings toward him, he was fairly certain that her unexpected reluctance to discount him added to the look on her face when he had defended her and the absurd annoyance that she expressed for everything he did marked the defensive beginnings of attraction. Well, if he was correct, at least it gave him some insight into his own feelings toward her. Maybe he wasn't jealous after all. Maybe he'd give the guy a chance to get through her impenetrable defenses and only kill him if he hurt her.


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day went smoothly enough and, as she spent the bus ride home with her forehead resting against the glass as she stared out the window, they rode home in silence. For some reason he had found himself loathe to disturb her.

When they got off he noticed that she had her hands buried in her pockets and was watching her feet as they shuffled down the road, rather slower than she had walked at any point during the day.

"Something wrong?" he found himself asking before he could stop himself.

She looked up at him in surprise before shrugging and watching the horizon as she answered. "Just not in a hurry to get home, I guess."

It was his turn to be incredulous. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes and sped her steps as though trying to get away from him. He matched her stride though. "Just because I'm loved doesn't mean I'm appreciated and it certainly doesn't mean I'm automatically happy." There was an odd bitterness to her voice.

"I'm sorry," he said hesitantly, "I was just always given the impression that…"

She stopped and glared at him. "Whatever it was it was apparently wrong. I'm the youngest of seven and the only girl on top of it, that puts me up for an insane level of babying and protection by its self. Add to that what happened my first year of school and you get a china doll with large crack already splitting her face and everyone assumes that one wrong breathe will shatter her. No one stops to figure that that crack went a long way to teaching her strength. As a result no one ever tells me anything about what's going on in the world. They literally hide the paper whenever I enter the room." She resumed walking. "I could deal with all of that, I think, if the doll wasn't left up on the highest shelf in the darkest corner to gather dust. After all, I have my ways of getting information. I just wish I wasn't invisible."

Now it was his turn to stop walking. He looked at her in disbelief. "Invisible? You?"

She laughed ironically. "Yeah. Come on, you'll see for yourself when we get to the Burrow." They walked the rest of the way in silence.

As they walked through the door, she called out, "I'm home!"

"That's nice dear, now why don't you go upstairs and do your homework," came the answer from the other room.

She rolled her eyes and called back. "It's the first day of school, Mum, I don't have any homework."

"Well," came the offstage response, "finish your work for Ravyn."

Her eyes closed and she sighed. "Ravyn hasn't even been here yet this term."

Impatience was audible in her mother's voice when she suggested, "Then enjoy that book you bought last week."

Ginny shook her head this time. "I finished that book three days ago, but it's okay. I brought a friend home with me."

Her mother's voice cleared but she still didn't enter the room. "That's great dear. There's a plate of cookies on the table you can have."

"It's Malfoy and he knows the contraceptive charm so we're going to shag each other senseless," Ginny couldn't help it. She didn't know why she was in such a dark mood.

Malfoy's eyes widened in horror and then disbelief when Mrs. Weasley said, "Is he going to stay for dinner?"

Ginny laughed at his expression, "Well?" she asked him.

He stuttered in shock, "Wh…why not?"

She turned back toward the door and yelled, "Yeah, he's staying. But you know, I don't think we'll use the charm after all. The risk will make it more enjoyable."

He raised his eyebrows huffed in impressed disbelief at her gall.

"All right. I'll call you for dinner," there was a note of finality in the tone of the response so Ginny shrugged and headed up stairs.

Malfoy fell in step behind her. "Took a chance, didn't you?" He was amused now that it was over.

She laughed a bit sarcastically. "Not really. The Order must be busy in there. It isn't always that bad, though. Usually she'll look up from what she's doing, ask me how my day was, and then make absent sounds of recognition as I pretend to tell her and she pretends to listen while she really concentrates on whatever she's cooking, cleaning, or mending. On those days she'd catch what I said and tell me not to be a smart aleck or watch my mouth or some other equally useless reprimand."

"And at dinner?" he asked.

She shrugged as she stepped into her room. "I can attempt to add to the conversation, but I'm usually talked over or completely ignored." She shut the door behind him and then fell on to her bed. "They love me, but that doesn't stop them from screwing with my psyche and jacking up my emotional health."

"Yeah," he took a seat at her desk, "I'm beginning to see that. You'll have to excuse my previous ignorance. I haven't had any experience with loving families, of any kind. To me they've never been anything but a faery tale, an obscure ideal that left no room for reality."

She sighed and sat up. "You'll have to excuse my reaction. I know it's irrational and I should be, and truthfully_ am,_ very grateful for my life, but sometimes I can't help but think it just might be easier to be ignored because I'm unwanted rather than because they just can't take the time to do otherwise."

He cocked his head in a half shrug. "I don't know but that it would. Then you'd be free to write them off in return rather than feel obligated to be grateful for what they _do_ give you and forgive them their weaknesses and failings."

She smiled a genuine smile, the first he'd seen all day and he couldn't help but recognize it as the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen, and stood up. "If I'm going to show you how to use the computer I'll need that chair."

He laughed and stood up so she could sit down.

"You can pull that other chair over here and sit beside me if you want," she said as she made herself comfortable.

"Nah, that's okay. I prefer to stand. I can see better from behind you."

She shrugged. "Okay. This is the power button." They spent the next few hours going over types of programs, windows, and menus; the differences between hardware and software; how to use the mouse and key board, including keyboard shortcuts; and even started going over drives and memory devices before they were called for supper. The pace had been set by him. She had wanted to go slower, let him explore the word processor and basic programs for a while, but he just wanted to have everything explained and occasionally demonstrated for him. He said he'd remember most of it and he could always ask her to remind him later.

When her mom called up to them that dinner was ready she heaved a heavy sigh. "I guess we'd better go down."

He could tell she really didn't want to. "Do we have to? I mean, I'm not all that hungry if you aren't and if you won't get in trouble for skipping it I'd actually prefer to just continue our lesson here."

She knew the only reason he was saying that was for her sake, but she didn't mind. In fact, she appreciated it. So she waited for the next time her mother called up to them and yelled back, "We're actually not hungry yet. We took all afternoon to eat those cookies," Draco looked over at the untouched plate of cookies on her bedside table, "and we can grab something later from the icebox."

There was a hesitation before they heard, "All right, just be sure you feed him before he leaves."

Ginny rolled her eyes but returned to explaining the benefits of the task manager without comment.

A while later he was watching her play a game from the chair he had finally pulled up behind and a bit to the side of her. It was an entertaining game and, as it was late and they had spent enough time in the room together to relax, they were laughing at her continuously futile attempts to beat a particular level.

Suddenly he leaned forward and placed his hand on top of her hand on the mouse. "Maybe if you try…" he made a few moves before his eyes darted sideways for a second to see her reaction. As his eyes returned to the game he found that he couldn't concentrate. He was acutely aware of her hand under his, of her arm next to his all the way to the shoulder, of how her shoulder fit perfectly against his, of how she had been staring at him when his eyes had flicked to hers, and, of all things, how she smelt.

He slowly turned his head to face hers, the game completely forgotten. There was hardly a breath between them. He swallowed hard. She bit her bottom lip. He swallowed hard again and pulled his hand off of hers to run it through his hair as he stood up straight. "Uh," he cleared his throat, "what time is it?"

She mentally shook herself and looked at the clock on the computer. "Almost midnight."

He continued to scratch the back of his neck. "Hm," he cleared his throat again. He wished it would open up so he could breath again. "Maybe I should go. It's late and I'm starting to get hungry…"

She stood up quickly, desperately trying to rebalance her own equilibrium. "I said I'd feed you before you go and there's always something to be found in the icebox." She started moving toward the door.

"Leftovers?" he said dubiously.

She looked back at him, amused. Both of them had finally shaken the last of whatever it was that had frozen their brains. "Something against leftovers?" she asked in mock offense.

"No," he answered quickly, suddenly desperate to avoid offending her. "It's just…"

She rolled her eyes. "Come on." She grabbed his sleeve and started pulling him down the hall. "Consider it payment for you computer lesson."

He shrugged as he followed her. When they reached the kitchen she opened the icebox and pulled out about twenty different containers. "The best thing about leftovers," she explained, "is that you can mix and match however you want, eating dishes that would never be _served_ together." She started removing lids. Grabbing two plates, she handed one to Draco before starting to fill her own. He watched as she dished out mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, rice pudding, some meat loaf, a bit of macaroni and cheese, and a spoonful of some other type of pasta.

As she cast a warming spell on her plate he started slowly filling his own. "I thought girls were supposed to be paranoid of carbs or something," he couldn't help but tease her.

She laughed. "I suppose most are, but I happen to be blessed with a fast metabolism, and even if I wasn't I'd probably burn most of it anyway."

"Oh?" he was intrigued, "how?"

She laughed. "Get here at 3:30 someday and you'll find out."

He almost dropped his plate. "3:30…_a_m?"

She really laughed that time and he wished she'd never stop. "Perhaps not _this_ morning, but yeah. Most days I'm up at 3:30 running. About 5 I come in to shower and get ready for school, and then at 6 I head down to the bus stop."

"You're crazy," he said as he cast a heating spell on his own food.

"Maybe," she said after swallowing a bite, "but it clears my head. Besides, I'm usually in bed by 10, unless I'm with Kat, and then I rarely run the next morning."

He swallowed a bite before he should have and suppressed a cough. "That's still only 5 and a half hours sleep."

She just shrugged.

They finished the meal in silence and she started putting the containers back in the icebox after placing her plate in the sink. She heard his plate follow hers and was surprised when he started putting on lids and handing her the containers to speed things up. After she thanked him an odd curiosity dawned on her.

"Where _are_ you going now?" she asked.

"You mean where am I living?" he clearly thought it was an odd question.

She nodded.

He shrugged. "Home."

Her eyes went wide and he thought she was going to break the plate she was washing by hand. Then, after his mind sidetracked itself admiring her hands he wondered _why_ she was doing it by hand. It wasn't like the ministry would ever question magic in a house with such a large family in it.

"I can't believe how…" she was trying not to shout. She put the plate down and gripped the edge of the sink, turning her knuckles white. She asked the window over the sink, "What is the point of sending you to a muggle school for protection when they're leaving you to live in the same place you always have? Anyone could find you there." She went silent for a moment and he didn't know what to say. Somehow he felt like the average self-conscious boy in her presence rather than the self-assured and confident man he was used to being. Finally she seemed to come to a conclusion. "Well, it just doesn't make sense. Come on," and she started off back up the stairs.

Once back in her room, he found her in her closet pulling out her trunk. "What are you doing?" he asked a bit nervously.

"Well, you can't stay at your manor and I figure you have more stuff than will fit in whatever luggage you have."

He shook his head in doubt. "Where am I supposed to stay instead? Here?"

She sighed and set down the end of the trunk she had been holding. "It isn't like they'll notice. The twins room is free; they finally got the rest of their stuff last week. There are no plans to do anything with that room but leave it open in case they need it. They won't. Besides, even if someone does notice you here early in the morning or late at night we can just tell them that you needed a little extra help with something muggle. Even if we use that excuse every day for a year they won't remember or catch on." She leveled him with an impatient glare. "Do you _want_ to sit at home waiting for one of your father's old friends to come calling?"

"Well," he answered smoothly, reaching for her trunk, "when you put it that way…"

He followed her out into the hall carrying the trunk and looked at her in confusion when she turned the wrong way. "Where are you going?"

"There's an extra trunk in the attic," she explained.

He sighed and followed.

Once she had hold of the second trunk, he held her arm and apparated them to his room in his manor.

She looked around for a moment before turning to him. "Well, what can I do?"

He looked around for a moment himself before deciding, "You can start with the book shelf. You should be able to get them all in one trunk." He shrugged as if dubious about that before turning to his dresser.

A few minutes later she called out, "Well, I've got all you books in and there's still a bit of space. What would you like me to add to it?"

He looked at her in surprise. "You fit all those books in one trunk with space left over?"

She huffed in laughter. "Yeah, if you pack them right they fit together nicely. Packed like this they'll protect each other as well, keeping the covers from getting bent and the pages from being scrunched."

"Well," he said considering, "you can add some of the stuff from my desk."

She nodded and started to open one of the drawers before stopping.

"What's wrong?" he asked, confused by her hesitation.

"I'd feel like I was invading your privacy less if I was packing your underwear." Her voice was too soft and serious for him to feel comfortable teasing her about her remark.

"It's all right, really," he reassured her.

She sighed and made herself open one of his drawers. After a few moments of silent packing he heard her swear softly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, unsure of what she could have found to offend her.

"Nothing, it's just…" she hesitated, picking up a few envelopes, "you must have kept every birthday and Christmas card you've gotten since you were seven."

"Six, actually, so?" he asked a bit defensively.

"It's just that, well, I have too. Do you mark what gift they gave you too?" He told her he had just as she turn one gift tag over and found her own confirmation.

"Why do _you_ do it?" he asked impulsively.

She sighed heavily before continuing her packing. "To remind myself that they really do care. You?" she turned to look at him.

He gave a half shrug like he really didn't care. "I started trying to convince myself that they did, but I long since gave up that delusion. Now I just do it out of habit I guess."

In the next drawer she found a multitude of identical leather bound books. "I see you journal," she commented as she began transferring them to the trunk.

"Yeah," he said absently as he moved to the closet. "Ever since I learned how to write.   
What about you, do you have a similar collection of journals as well as cards?"

"No," her voice was hard. "I don't really enjoy it anymore."

He winced. "Sorry, I forgot."

"Lucky you," she closed the empty journal drawer and moved on to his stationery drawer. "I can't even forget in my dreams."

He came back into the room to look at her. "You still have nightmares about it?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

She tensed. "My stupidity nearly cost the lives of four students, including one of the only friends I had, as well as my own. I'm fortunate I can sleep at all. To be honest, I prefer the nightmares to the alternative."

"I don't understand."

"When I dream I know I've been asleep. On the nights when I wake up short with no memory of my dreams and no nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I did but just can't remember what it was…those moments come too close to…the only difference is that my last memory is lying down where I wake up. When I would black out he'd never take me back to where I started." She was trying to ignore the way he was staring at her.

"It really wasn't…" he started.

She stood up and spun around to look at him so fast his breath caught. "Don't!" she pleaded. "Just…don't try to tell me it wasn't my fault. I've heard it so many times it makes me want to throw up. It _was_ my fault. I should have known not to trust such a suspicious artifact, especially after living with Fred and George."

He shook his head, painfully aware of her self-loathing on the matter. "You were a lonely child. Hell, I'd probably have fallen for it last week."

She turned back to her packing. "I wonder," she said, gazing into the trunk beside her and changing the subject, "what kind of journals you keep."

He huffed. "Brown, leather-bound, unlined…"

"Smart aleck," she said as she threw a waded up piece of parchment at his head. He laughed as he ducked and returned to his own packing. "I just meant that, though I'll never get to read them, I can't help but think I'd find them fascinating."

"Who says you'll never read them?" he asked, voice muffled by the wall between them.

"Right, like you'd let me," she said sarcastically.

"I might," he said, unconvincingly.

She laughed.

It took them about two hours to get all of his stuff packed up into the two trunks they had brought from her house and the two trunks he owned. By the time they got back to the Burrow it was 2:30. Ginny decided that staying awake all night and enjoying a brisk run in the morning air would make it easier for her to stay awake during school than sleeping for only three hours. Draco decided that in order for his ego to remain unthreatened he had to join her. He was surprised to find how effectively the run energized them and no one noticed they had not slept the night before.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the week went smoothly enough and Draco was careful to only annoy Ginny from time to time rather than irritate the living day lights out of her at every opportunity as he had first intended.

On Fridays, their physical education class was spent swimming. When Draco came out of the dressing room, he decided that Fridays would be his favourite day of the week for more than one reason. There were some attractive girls in their class and there they were, all standing around in their bathing suits, definitely one of the benefits of attending a muggle school. He had no trouble fitting in with the other guys as they discussed and debated which girls had what in their favour as they slowly trickled out of their own dressing room. When Ginny came out all talk stopped as the guys just watched her for a moment. There was no argument when Draco observed that she won hands down.

When the teacher announced that the boys would be racing first, most of them groaned. Draco, however, smirked to himself. He decided to have a little fun. Taking his position at one of the lanes, he made a show of removing his shirt and stretching, being sure to flex and display each set of muscles. His arms were extremely well defined from years of flying, an activity that had also gone a long way to toning his abs. Also in his favour were his years of swimming off his aggression in the private pool he used to have access to. That was one of the few things about his manor that he missed. If he was disappointed in the reaction he received it was only in the reaction of one particular red-head who rolled her eyes. He rolled it off his shoulders and was even more determined to impress the rest of the girls.

Slowly the rest of the boys joined him. If any of them had been harboring hopes of receiving admiring gazes from the cluster of girls they were given up as none of them, except perhaps Khaile, had any chance of competing with Draco. When the teacher signaled the start of the race, Draco was the first one off the block. He also won the race, though Khaile _was_ a close second. As they moved off to the side to watch the girls, Khaile asked Draco if he was interested in joining the swim team. Draco had previously never thought about it, not knowing such things existed. He honestly wasn't all that interested in the competition aspect or the school spirit aspect, but when he noticed a few of the girls were still staring at him he decided he would enjoy the attention. He did _not_ entertain the subconscious realization that it might gain him more attention from Ginny. At least, he tried not to. He couldn't help but hope that even if she didn't admire his physique or ability she might notice that all the other girls did.

As the girls lined up for their race, he took the opportunity to admire her well constructed curves. She was rather well toned from her running and swimming, but not so much that it detracted from her beauty. She was also the first one off the block and swam the furthest under water. She moved with incredible grace and easily won. She was smiling as she climbed out. It was obvious that she enjoyed swimming as much as she did running. Draco turned to Khaile and asked if she was on the swim team.

"I think so," he answered, "she was on the track team last year and she usually alternates since she can't do both at the same time."

"Malfoy," the teacher called, "line up."

Malfoy took the place next to Ginny as she prepared to race again. "Just me?" he asked.

"Yep," she said, "it's tradition around here for the fastest boy and the fastest girl to race. It's always been me against Khaile. He may be the fastest guy on the team, but never much of a challenge for me. You didn't beat him by much, but maybe now that you've warmed up I'll have a real race."

He was determined to live up to her hopes.

The signal was given and they were off the blocks simultaneously. The teacher was beginning to envision the best year for the swim team yet. She stayed under water longer than Draco did, but when she surfaced it was right beside him. They were so close that no one could call the race until she touched the wall a second before he did. She smiled at him, panting, clearly delighted with the challenge and he returned her smile, more for the pleasure he felt at having been the cause for her delight than for anything to do with the race.

He stopped smiling rather quickly, though, and looked up. She followed his gaze curiously and her eyes widened in surprise. "Ravyn," she said.

Draco was glad she wasn't looking at him to notice the scowl that appeared, but Ravyn certainly did. He turned his eyes back to Ginny and extended a hand down to help her out of the pool. She took it and they clasped each other's wrist as she brought her other hand up to hold on to his arm as well. He leaned a little further down so she could sink into the water, presently propelling herself up as he pulled. Quickly bending one leg, she caught the edge with her foot when he lifted her waist even with it and in one fluid movement she was standing before him. "We need to talk," he said.

She looked up at her teacher who nodded so she followed Ravyn out as he wrapped a towel around her.

Once out in the hall she turned to face him. "What are you doing here?"

His face became very serious. "Why did you move him out of his manor."

She adopted a rather firm expression herself. "Because hiding in plain sight is not always the safest place."

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Isn't that what he's doing now?"

She clenched her jaw before answering, ignoring his question, "Three things: First, even if they do assume that he's not stupid enough to remain in his ancestral home, they may very well decide to use that location for some purpose of their own and find him that way. Second, they are not the fools most seem to believe they are. They may count him too intelligent to remain where they knew him last to be, but they would probably still search there first on the off chance that he is a moron, which I assume they did and that is how _you_ learned he had moved. Need I point out that he, or whoever told him to stay there, _is_ a moron? Or at least that _decision_ was moronic, because he _would_ have been found there and killed if I had not taken the initiative. Third, if the Order themselves do not know where he is, who would look for him in one of the prominent members' home?"

He sighed. "If I found him…"

She held up a hand to stop him. "_You_ found him because him because you know _me_. Would I be right in my guess that you sought no confirmation for his new location before coming here and that your confidence of my involvement is why you pulled _me_ out of class rather than _him_? Which brings to mind, why isn't one of the other members here to demand to where he moved?"

"You _would_ be correct," he said, unable to hide his amusement, "and I'm the only one here because I volunteered to demand just that."

"And what are you going to report?" she asked with amusement of her own.

"Oh," he sounded bored, "that he's safe where is and safer still for so few knowing the location." His expression turned to one of concern. "Are you all right?"

"With Draco, you mean?" she asked, suddenly tired.

"Yeah," he said.

"I'm fine, really," she was, too, that was one of the reasons she would rather avoid the subject.

He looked at her critically. "Just let me know if he…"

"I will," she interrupted him, "but do to proximity, Khaile will probably have the job done before you can get to him."

He reached up and brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear. It was damp around the edges from where water had seeped under her swimming cap. Letting his fingers linger on her jaw, he said with a voice laced with concern, "Be careful, Gin. They may be too good at ignoring you, but he has a way of making himself known." He left before she had time to respond.

When she turned to make her way back to the pool room, she noticed Draco leaning up against the wall with his old smug smirk on his face. She prepared herself for unpleasantness as she asked warily, "What?"

He pushed himself off the wall and put his hands in his pockets as he shrugged in mock indifference, "Oh, nothing. I just didn't know Khaile had competition."

She rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Ravyn," he said, "fancys you."

"He does not," she said in exasperation.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "Are you being dense or coy?"

She looked amused, "Did you just say _coy_?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's a perfectly good word and the most appropriate. What makes you so sure he doesn't, anyway?"

"I just am," she said, rather impatiently as she tried to get around him and reenter the room.

He moved to be in front of her again. "Really?"

"What makes you so sure he does?" she demanded sharply.

"Suspicion was raised when you told me that he bought you a rather expensive computer for your muggle studies, when he is in charge of your magical education, rather than saying it was _provided_ for you. Still, at the time I had no idea how old he was. When I saw that he couldn't be more than ten years…"

"Eight," she interrupted to correct him, crossing her arms.

"Fine, _eight_ years older than you, is it significant that you know that exactly?" he paused in his explanation to ask.

"He's the same age as Charlie," she explained.

The way she said her brother's name intrigued him, but he decided to pursue that later rather than be side tracked now. "Ah. Anyway, when I saw him today I was reminded of my suspicion because he is definitely young enough. The way he helped you out of the pool merely added to it. However, the way he looked at you just now as he fixed your hair for you clenched it." He looked at her smugly.

Her expression changed to one he couldn't read and she looked like she wanted to slap him. "Jack-ass," she said before pushing past him back into the class room.

He looked after her, confused, for a moment before Khaile burst through the door, clearly angry.

"Dumb ass!" he almost yelled. "What are you? A fucking moron?" He didn't wait for an answer before running off the way Ravyn had disappeared.

A second later Kat came out. "You forced her to admit Ravyn fancies her, didn't you?" she asked.

He got defensive, "So?"

She rolled her eyes at his stupidity. "Did you ever stop to think that it might have taken considerable effort for her to live in denial about it? You surely didn't stop to think that if she recognizes how he feels it will make the time she _has_ to spend with him rather awkward. How do you think she's going to feel when he shows up to tutor her in magic tomorrow?"

He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I didn't think of that."

"Really?" she asked sarcastically. "Next time you feel the need to clarify something for her, why don't you run it by me first?" She turned on her heel and retreated back into the pool room. He sighed, squared his shoulders, and followed.

Khaile barely caught up with Ravyn before he was far enough away from the school to apparate. "Ravyn, wait!" he called. "There's something you should know."

"Is it about Malfoy?" Ravyn asked.

"Indirectly," Khaile answered. "He just pointed out to Ginny some of the more obvious indications of how you feel for her."

Ravyn looked up at the sky as though asking for patience. "How did she take it?" he asked.

"About as well as to be expected. It isn't like she's truly been ignorant of the nature of your attentions lately." Khaile sounded rather annoyed with the whole thing. "She'll probably kill me for telling you, but I just thought you should know. What are you going to do?" There was a definitively protective note to his question.

Ravyn shrugged. "I'll talk to her, assure her that I have never expected or even hoped for reciprocation and that having it out in the open should actually make things easier rather than more awkward."

Khaile's expression indicated that he wasn't happy but believed it was the best that could be done.

"Oh," Ravyn acted as though he just remembered something, "the way he looked me at the pool, does _he_ fancy her?"

Khaile sighed, "If he doesn't yet he's definitely attracted to her and will before too long."

"How does that leave things with you?" Ravyn asked tentatively.

"Better than I would have thought," Khaile answered, "if nothing else, he has helped clear things up for _me_. I've known all along that you would never act on your feelings so it never would have made me jealous regardless, but the presence of someone who certainly _will_ act on his feelings and to whom she could, _conceivably_, return them has _not_ made me jealous, simply nearly obsessively protective. In other words, as long as he doesn't hurt her I won't have to kill him."

Ravyn nodded. "If there is cause and I'm not around, would you mind sticking to torture until I can join you? I'd like to help with the actual killing."

Khaile laughed and said, "Sure," before turning back to the school.


End file.
